Books & Recordings

Books

The Politics of Social Welfare in America

By Glenn Mackin

Cambridge University Press, 2013

Mackin, assistant professor of political science in the humanities department at the Eastman School, explores the ways in which politicians, academics, and citizens talk about welfare and disability. He argues that their perceptions guide policy, while those deemed “needy” have challenged that designation through activism.

Reminiscences: A Journey through Particle Physics

By Adrian Melissinos

World Scientific Press, 2012

Melissinos, a professor of physics at Rochester who has conducted research in particle physics for more than 50 years, recounts
the evolution of the field from the late 1950s until the present.

Anxious Wealth: Money and Morality among China’s New Rich

By John Osburg

Stanford University Press, 2013

Based on three years of field research in Chengdu, a commercial center and capital of China’s Sichuan province, Osburg, assistant professor of anthropology at Rochester, offers insight into the private and professional lives of a segment of China’s new business class.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History

Edited by Joan Shelley Rubin and Scott Casper

Oxford University Press, 2013

Rubin, professor of history at Rochester, coedits the two-volume encyclopedia of the American “values, aspirations, anxieties, and beliefs” as expressed in popular culture as well as formal thought. Among the topics included are minstrel shows, video games, book clubs, and the pursuit of “wellness,” as well as the works of prominent artists, writers, and theologians.

The Wave Function: Essays on the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics

Edited by Alyssa Ney and David Albert

Oxford University Press, 2013

Ney, associate professor of philosophy at Rochester, coedits the volume of essays on the metaphysics of quantum mechanics and contributes the essay “Ontological Reduction and the Wave Function Ontology.” The volume includes an overview of the history of quantum mechanics and its place in metaphysics among realist alternatives.

Adams collects 21 personal stories from young writers about the impact on their lives of Adams’s 1990 book The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory, in which Adams explored the connections between meat-eating and virility across cultures. Among the contributors is Lagusta Yearwood ’00.

Pay It Forward: Mentoring New Information Professionals

By Mary Ann Mavrinac and Kim Stymest

American Library Association, 2013

Mavrinac, vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River Campus Libraries, coauthors a guide to mentoring.
The authors offer tips to new information science professionals seeking a mentor, while arguing that mentoring is a partnership
in which benefits extend to both parties.

Mercy! A Celebration of Fenway Park’s Centennial Told through Red Sox Radio and TV

By Curt Smith

Potomac Books, 2012

Smith, an author, political speechwriter, and senior lecturer in the English department at Rochester, presents the 100-year
history of Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, through accounts from Red Sox radio and television broadcasters.

Mastering the Bow

By Gaelen McCormick ’92E

Carl Fischer, 2013

McCormick, a bassist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and a faculty member at the Eastman Community Music School, provides a guide to bow technique, based on Franz Wohlfahrt’s Studies for Violin, for beginning and intermediate students.

The ’90s: Diary of a Mess

By Alexsandra Sukhoy ’03S (MBA)

CreateSpace, 2013

Sukhoy, a Cleveland-area career coach and blogger, presents a collection of poetry, photography, and musings she created during
and about the 1990s. The book features a foreword by artist Jacob Livshultz and afterword by comedian Deena Nyer Mendlowitz.

All I Want for Christmas

By Michael Bresner ’65

iUniverse, 2013

Bresner tells a story of murder and mayhem among Santa’s elves, and the efforts of Santa and his nemesis, the elf leader, to solve the mystery. The book is the first in a series of revisionist novels based on myths, legends, and fairy tales.

Reform of Eyewitness Identification Procedures

Edited by Brian Cutler ’82

American Psychological Association, 2013

Cutler, a psychologist and professor on the faculty of social sciences and humanities at the University of Ontario Institute
of Technology, offers policy recommendations based on research in eyewitness memory, the composition of police line-ups, and
other aspects of eyewitness identification. Cutler is also the author of Conviction of the Innocent: Lessons from Psychological Research (American Psychological Association).

Difficult Is the Path: Why Life as a Disciple of Jesus Is Not for the Fainthearted

By R. Roderick Cyr ’01S (MBA)

Crossbooks, 2013

Cyr, chief financial officer of Own Products in San Francisco, explores the meaning of Jesus’s declaration in the Sermon on the Mount, “difficult is the path that leads to life.” Arguing that churches have ignored Jesus’s message, Cyr argues for the value of the difficult path and the ways in which it might lead to a more satisfying and purposeful life.

The Last Akaway

By Gary Karton ’91

Brattle Publishing Group, 2013

In Karton’s young adult fantasy, the last akaway—a rare, magical creature that connects children to their spirit animals—is in danger, and 11-year-old Brody Boondoggle leads the effort to save it.

Lucy in the Mind of Lennon

By Tim Kasser ’94 (PhD)

Oxford University Press, 2013

Kasser, professor of psychology at Knox College in Illinois, offers a psychobiography of the Beatles’ John Lennon, exploring a question oft-asked by Beatles fans, What was the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” about? The book is part of the Oxford Pyschobiography Series.

Marine Corps Marathon: An Epic Journey in Photographs

By Steve Nearman ’82 and Jeff Horowitz

MCM Photobooks, 2013

Nearman, a sports journalist who covered the Marine Corps Marathon for the Washington Post and other publications, coauthors
a 150-page coffee table photo book showcasing the 37-year history of the 26.2-mile race that winds through Washington, D.C.,
each fall.

Engineering Dynamics: From the Lagrangian to Simulation

By Roger Gans

Springer, 2013

Gans, professor of mechanical engineering at Rochester, offers an overview of dynamics designed for beginning graduate students
in mechanical engineering and related disciplines.

Nurse, an apparel marketer and CEO of It Girl Industries, offers fashion and style advice for women striving “to stir up their creativity and become their best selves.”

Constitution 20XX

By Allen H. Brown ’53

Paper Tier, 2013

Allen, a retired Air Force avionics engineer, offers his first novel, a science fiction thriller in which a catastrophic event
wipes out much of the American population, forcing the nation to begin anew.

Recordings

Blue Serenade

By the Brian Cunningham Quartet

Jazz Project, 2013

The quartet that includes drummer and producer Jud Sherwood ’89 performs original works by guitarist and composer Cunningham. The recording is the 10th produced by Sherwood on his Jazz Project label.

From Afar

By Nicholas Goluses

Albany Records, 2012

Goluses, professor of guitar at the Eastman School, performs a varied program including the first recording of the solo version of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Joseph Schwantner’s From Afar.

An American Hallel: The Sacred Choral Music of Michael Isaacson

By Counterpoint

Michael Isaacson, 2013

The professional vocal ensemble Counterpoint performs works by Michael Isaacson ’79E that offer a contemporary interpretation of the Jewish conception of gratitude.

All the Days of My Life: The Wedding Album

By Vicente Avella ’98E (MM)

Pandora’s Boombox Records, 2013

Pianist Avella presents music offering “a current expression to the traditional wedding classics.” The producer is Windham Hill founder William Ackerman.

Books & Recordings is a compilation of recent work by University alumni, faculty, and staff. For inclusion in an upcoming issue, send the work’s title, publisher, author or performer, a brief description, and a high-resolution cover image, to Books & Recordings, Rochester Review, 22 Wallis Hall, P. O. Box 270044, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0044; or by e-mail to rochrev@rochester.edu.